1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermoplastic resin molded article, a method for producing the same, a processed article produced by subjecting the thermoplastic resin molded article to heating process, and a thermoplastic resin composition preferably used for producing the thermoplastic resin molded article. More specifically, the present invention relates to a thermoplastic resin molded article of high-grade quality owing to the excellent surface gloss, transparency and color tone thereof, and with excellent heating processability involving a smaller cooling distortion ratio during the bending process under heating and with less inner distortion in the resulting processed article which consequently can procure good impact resistance with no occurrence of break or damage, a thermoplastic resin composition preferably used therefor, a processed article produced by subjecting the thermoplastic resin molded article to heating process, and a method for producing the thermoplastic resin molded article. By utilizing the excellent properties thereof in an active fashion, the thermoplastic resin molded article of the present invention can effectively be used for a wide variety of utilities, such as interior housing materials and interior equipment including the top boards, doors and walls of system kitchens, the top boards of washing and dressing units, the side walls and aprons of unit baths, and the counter boards of bay windows.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Composite materials of melamine resin decorating boards and artificial marbles from (metha)acrylic resins and unsaturated polyester resins with other materials such as composite boards and calcium silicate boards, have conventionally been used as interior housing materials and interior equipment, such as the top boards of system kitchens, the top boards of washing and dressing units, the side walls and aprons of unit baths, the doors and wall of housings, and the counter boards of bay windows.
However, those produced by using melamine resin decorating boards are poor in terms of high-grade quality and have larger inner distortion at bending parts processed under heating, so that they have significantly low impact strength at the bending processed parts, disadvantageously. Therefore, they are not sufficiently satisfactory.
Artificial marbles produced by using (metha) acrylic resins and unsaturated polyester resins have marvelous high-grade touch compared with those of melamine resin decorating boards, but because the (metha) acrylic resins and unsaturated polyester resins used therein are thermosetting resins, these artificial marbles cannot be produced smoothly by an extrusion molding method at a high productivity. Generally, thus, casting method or press method at a lower productivity, compared with extrusion molding, has been used, which inevitably involves higher production cost. Additionally because it is difficult to subject these artificial marbles to bending process under heating, curved parts (R parts) should necessarily be formed through cutting process costing a longer time and laborious works, which inevitably involves higher processing cost.
Furthermore, it has been known an artificial marble with the base of (metha)acrylic resins which can be bent under heating, but because the resins therein are cross linked together, the marble does not have satisfactory processability. Thus, the shapes formed from the marble through heating process are limited.
For the purpose of producing molded articles with improved heating processability and impact resistance, proposition has been made of resin compositions for thermoplastic molding, into which polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate and inorganic fillers are preliminarily blended (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 6-279665 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,997). However, barium sulfate used as an inorganic filler in the resin compositions has such a larger difference in refractive index from the resins, that the resulting molded articles with poor surface transparency and gloss are likely to lack high-grade quality.